[Who_tat_me]

Who_tat_me wrote:

Wrong again.
Many of the low end STBs have SCART, A/V, and coax digital. That's 3
(count them) audio outputs.

Maybe the ones that you buy on ebay have them but the under $100 STBs that
I've seen in shops are a lot more basic than that. The $79 model that
Woolies has been selling recently is one example.

My STB is the same brand as my TV, so I can share remote. In fact the
single power button turns both sets on and off. Very nice.

Lucky you.

 

[Who_tat_me]

The problem with your argument is that it only takes one single case to
prove you wrong. I have several visually impaired people who contradict
what you say, so the clearer STB picture CAN help some people.

Maybe your relatives were just being nice to you. When you went on so much
about the virtues of digital they didn't want to upset you by saying "No, I
can't see any bloody difference."

 

[lora Norda]

Why more people aren't switching to digital is they don't see there's
enough there to bother making the change. Whenever I hear someone on
the the radio extolling the virtues of getting a digital set top box,
the first thing they will say is "no ghosting". I don't have ghosting.
Will all these people with ghosting please stand up. What will make me
and a lot others switch to digital is getting a lot more choice in
what to watch. So using the digital spectrum for more channels. It
won't "no ghosting", a sharper picture or wide screen.

If you're in Tassie you need it to watch ch10.

 

[David L. Jones]

Maybe your relatives were just being nice to you. When you went on so much
about the virtues of digital they didn't want to upset you by saying "No, I
can't see any bloody difference."

Nope. They beg me to come around and fix the slightest problem they
have, they can't standing watching analog any more it gives them
headaches.
Face it, you are wrong. The STB digital picture is MUCH clearer to SOME
people. Just because you have no people that it makes a difference with
doesn't mean that's the way it is.

Dave

 

[regn.pickford]

Legislative junking?????

Care to explain please?

What was junked by legislation?

analogue phones.

 

[Ross Herbert]

Hi all

I've just recently re-subscribed to this NG (and others) after a fairly long
absence. Dial up was too slow. Now that I have finally got Broadband, things
are much better. It is good to see that some things in this NG haven't
changed. It is with great fear & trepidation that I type my first post

I just want to add my comments on this thread

My first real experience with Digital TV was last night (Friday) when I went
over to my neighbours place to see the AFL on his new 42" Plasma & HDTV DTB
etc. I did have a bit of a preview of HDTV a few days earlier & was
considerably impressed, BUT when Ch9 started showing some fast live AFL
action with lots of background (crowd), the HDTV seemed to lose the plot.
Pixelation & jaggies where all over the place. The spectators were reduced
to blotches & squares. My neighbour kept saying, "It's out of focus". We
switched to the Standard Definition mode which seemed to improve things
abit. I did notice that there were very few fast camera pans which included
the crowd after the first 1/4.

Maybe the camera crew etc are still coming to grips with some of the 'ways'
of Digital TV so things may improve.

Maybe the neighbours equipment wasn't setup properly

Ian implies below that his AFL is not good. He did not elaborate here as to
why.

What is means to me is that if this is typical of DTV, I will keep my good
old analogue for a while yet. (I would like the wide screen bit though)

BTW all things aside, viewing the AFL on wide screen was far better than
watching it on his old set which had the goal posts at about 25deg to the
vertical when viewed from behind.


Regards

Chopper Playne.

I still use my old Sony analogue TV in conjunction with a Topfield
TF5000PVRt STB and while this is not a HDTV unit, I have never seen
any pixellation or "jaggies" while watching AFL in 16:9 or any other
format. The resolution and clarity of the picture are eminently
superior to standard analogue FTA and I get excellent analogue
reception where I am anyway. This will do me until I can afford a
larger widescreen display.

Perhaps your neighbour's STB is not one of the better quality units
such as the Topfield and that is what is causing the pixellation and
"jaggies" problem.

 

[David L. Jones]

Maybe the ones that you buy on ebay have them but the under $100 STBs that
I've seen in shops are a lot more basic than that. The $79 model that

Woolies has been selling recently is one example.

Not according to this thread:
http://groups.google.com.au/groups?...&selm=39chvpF5tlrpeU1%40individual.net&rnum=1
(Hope the link works)
They claim the new Wollies box has RCA and Digital out for your lousy
$75.
But then again, you should know that, you contributed to the thread.
I find it curious that you contribute to a digital TV forum yet you
don't have an STB yourself.

Dave

 

[David L. Jones]

No I'm not.

You claimed that improved clarity in the digital STB picture offers NO
improvement what so ever for visually impaired people. I know several
visually imparied people who will tell you otherwise.
Therefore you are wrong.

Of course it is but if you already have a good analogue picture, a digital
STB is no substitute for spectacles or laser surgery

Never said it was. I can help SOME people that's all.

Just because you have a limited number of relatives who who think it makes a
difference doesn't mean that's the way it is either.

What part of SOME people don't you understand?

Dave

 

[regn.pickford]

Most people really don't care about extra menus and listening to the radio
on your TV is not really the most cost effective way of listening to the
radio. As well as the cost of the STB you then have to fok out extra $$$ for
the extra power consumed by the TV over a normal radio. A 68cm TV uses 8
times the power that a home stereo system uses.

I like the menus, I like the programme information and guides. I have never
used the
radio side of it, I have my favourite stations already programmed into the
entertainment
centre.

The improvement in the picture is really effective where I live. It goes
from snowy
to crystal clear. It was a good buy

 

[Ross Herbert]

So what extra features do the "good" STBs have that the "cheapies" I
have posted links for do not have?

Well a good STB may have features such as dual tuners and a hard disk
for recording (up to 200Gb currently) so you can actually record two
programs simultaneously, even while watching a previously recorded
program.

Oops, looks like you didn't answer my question the first time...


Really.
Please post the links to these supposed "good" receivers and what
evidence you have that they actually have better quality decoder chips
and front ends. I'm sure we'd all love to see what features they have
that make them worth 2-3 times the price.
I for one would be VERY surprised if one of your supposed "good" STB's
has 2-3 times the picture quality to justify the extra price...

I don't specifically know what makes a "good" STB better than a
cheaper one with less features. This is for the individual to decide
based on what they consider is "good", what features they desire, and
how much they wish to pay. Here is a typical "good" quality STB if you
have around $900.00 (new retail) to spare
http://www.topfield-australia.com.au/product.asp?SKU=TF5000PVRT

adequate.

I paid $135 for my STB many months ago (and they are cheaper again
now), it's a top brand name, made in Europe, and has all the features I
could ever need.
There is simply no need to spend many hundreds of dollars to get a good
quality SD STB that will give you a first class result. If you are
paying that sort of money you are getting ripped off.

I'd have to agree with that...

 

[Who_tat_me]

Not according to this thread:
http://groups.google.com.au/groups?...&selm=39chvpF5tlrpeU1%40individual.net&rnum=1
(Hope the link works)
They claim the new Wollies box has RCA and Digital out for your lousy
$75.

It doesn't have SCART, which is the most compatible outlet. Most TVs and
home stereos don't have coax in so that leaves just 1 set of RCA connectors
and RF for most people.

But then again, you should know that, you contributed to the thread.
I find it curious that you contribute to a digital TV forum yet you
don't have an STB yourself.

Since when is aus.tv a digital TV forum?

 

[Who_tat_me]

I like the menus, I like the programme information and guides.

Just out of interest, were they a big point when you purchased your STB?

*snip*

The improvement in the picture is really effective where I live. It goes
from snowy to crystal clear. It was a good buy

I know of quite a few people who purchased didgital STBs specifically for
that reason and many of them are happy. Unfortunately a lot are in a
position where nothing helps their TV reception but even some of those
prefer the digital picture over the analogue version. Even the pixelation
that they now suffer is better than the severe ghosting that they previously
had to put up with.

 

[Who_tat_me]

Who_tat_me wrote:

Nope. They beg me to come around and fix the slightest problem they
have, they can't standing watching analog any more it gives them
headaches.
Face it, you are wrong.

No I'm not.

The STB digital picture is MUCH clearer to SOME
people.

Of course it is but if you already have a good analogue picture, a digital
STB is no substitute for spectacles or laser surgery

Just because you have no people that it makes a difference with
doesn't mean that's the way it is.

Just because you have a limited number of relatives who who think it makes a
difference doesn't mean that's the way it is either.

 

[Mr.T]

Private industry has self interest and greed as its only driving forces -
if you have not noticed.

Same as any political party too.
I do however agree it is a government responsibility, which is why I'm
surprised they haven't given it to private enterprise yet, like they have
all their other responsibilities.
Taxation is the only one they really want.

MrT.

 

[regn.pickford]

Just out of interest, were they a big point when you purchased your STB?

*snip*

Mostly it was that I had seen the improvement in picture on another tv.

I wouldn't have bought it only for the menu system but it is a pleasant add
on.

I know of quite a few people who purchased didgital STBs specifically for
that reason and many of them are happy. Unfortunately a lot are in a
position where nothing helps their TV reception but even some of those
prefer the digital picture over the analogue version. Even the pixelation
that they now suffer is better than the severe ghosting that they previously
had to put up with.

The picture is magic and the pixelations ony kick in when there's a storm
blowing
and even then only for a few minutes till the storm eases up. Day to day
it's like
watching a DVD! ;^)

 

[Mr.T]

You won't see one until there is a fast enough A/D converter to
handle twice the highest frequency you want to receive.

???????????

You can do it now with a computer, or by connecting a Topfield PVR to your
computer. But there doesn't seem to be a single set top unit yet.
The problem is not electronic.

MrT.

 

[dmm]

Same as any political party too.
I do however agree it is a government responsibility, which is why I'm
surprised they haven't given it to private enterprise yet, like they have
all their other responsibilities.

And which responsibilities are those?

 

[AJ]

"Who_tat_me"


** Not pointless at all - many folk find they have poor of no FM
reception, very common with the antenna systems is blocks of units. In the
same situation, a STB supplies perfect quality, interruption free music 24
/7 - nothing like it is broadcast on the FM band at all.

Hmmmm where is it getting the signal from to tune that radio from? As
far as I know radio stations are not digitised and re-broadcast on
digital are they in which case you will still have poor FM performance
won't you? There is no circuitry in a STB that could improve the
signal. In my place my FM radio is connected to my TV antenna and it
works just fine.

 

[AJ]

Firstly, anyone who HAS to ask that question apparently cannot distinguish a
good quality TV picture from a poor one. The majority of the population are like
that. They are happy to receive any sort of TV picture. SO digital will not do
anything for them.

Secondly, they will not realise that they are actually reaping part of the
benefit of digital TV already. Since the TV stations began distributing their TV
programmes in digital, the quality of the TV signal sent out from the existing
analogue TV transmitters has improved enormously.

How do you work that one out? In many cases what is sitting before the
transmitter, or in the case of digital what ever it is that digitises
the signal is pretty much the same stuff. Sure the stations may have
new camera's etc to cater more for digital TV (Widescreen and all that
good stuff that does make digital a good thing), but there ain't
nothing that is going to improve the analogue signal coming off the
stick. The broadcast quality that was sent before if received on a TV
with no problems would match the perfromance of the TV, so where would
you see an improvement.

 

[Mr.T]

And which responsibilities are those?

Telecommunications, electricity, gas, water, and many others depending on
state/territory.

MrT.